All Hope Is Gone
by x.Radish.x
Summary: A broken promise is as good as a lie… All Hope Is Gone - Slipknot ALTA


Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the following fiction: they belong to Mike and Brian, Avatar God-s.

The included lyrics that kind of have nothing to do with the storyline don't belong to me either. They are property of Slipknot, who is property of Roadrunner Records. The lyrics were taken from their 2008 album 'All Hope Is Gone'. That is also the name of the song, just in case you haven't caught on.

_The state of the nation_

_Violation_

_A broken promise is as_

_Good as a lie_

Aang faces his opponent, breathing deeply, wiry arms splayed in a pose of readiness. His feet bite into the dirt, steadying him, and he fights for control over his rage.

"You lied to me."

Zuko's eyes are soft, pleading; he does not stand as though challenged. His arms are raised apologetically and outstretched as though he would care to embrace his friend.

"I didn't," he insists gently. "I wouldn't…I can't lie to you. Aang-"

"You LIED!" Aang spits and the tall grass that surrounds them shudders with the breath Aang doesn't even realise that he's let out. "You told me she didn't love you!"

_The Hell is humongous _

_The Devil's among us_

_But we will burn if we_

_Don't unite_

Zuko looks away, clenching his jaw. "I never knew," he whispers. "She never told me."

"Stop lying to me!" Aang demands and he hates the way his voice cracks. His fists clench and blaze with flames that match his fury. "You knew and you wouldn't tell! Because you want her all to yourself!"

Now Zuko meets his eyes and his gaze is cold. "And you don't?"

_What are we conceding_

_For our freedom?_

_Why does anybody think _

_We need 'em? _

Aang's lip curls. "It's different for me."

Zuko frowns in bemusement. "How, Aang?"

"I love her!" The flames crawling harmlessly over his flesh flare angrily.

Zuko's eyes are sad again and his irritation filters away as he replies softly, "So do I."

_We're the Problem_

_But we're also the Solution…_

"Well I met her first and I loved her first!" He knows he's being childish but he also knows that Katara is _his_. He's the Avatar and he deserves her.

"Aang, _please_-"

"Don't!" Aang bellows. "Fight me!"

"We shouldn't. We're friends, we can work this out-" Zuko begins, but Aang won't hear of it. The tattoo on his head begins to glow.

"No, we can't." His voice is low, menacing, so unlike himself. "Fight me or I'll kill you!"

_All Hope Is Gone_

"I won't fight you," Zuko snaps and his tone speaks of finality. "Kill me if you want, but I won't fight you."

"Then you'll die for her," Aang breathes and twists tongues of flame into a spherical weapon, jetting it at rapid speed toward his opponent.

_If you want it_

_Come and take it from me_

_If you think you can_

_Then you still don't know me_

Zuko ducks and whirls out of the way of the fireball at the last moment and Aang can smell his singed hair. The fury inside of him grows like some deadly plant, sending out shoots and tendrils to attach to his brain and fuel his malicious intentions. Aang relishes this loss of control and embraces his rage, feeling the familiar surge of uncontrollable power wriggle through his veins.

_Let me tell you_

_I said it, I meant it!_

_And I will always have_

_The right to defend it_

"Stand STILL!" he growls, sweeping his arms through the air, which is heavy with the humidity of an approaching storm; the sky is pregnant with ominous black clouds. With Aang's aggressive movements, a cyclonic wind powers through the grass and knocks Zuko off his feet. Aang loses sight of him, for the grass is so long, and so collects a ball of air so he may sit upon it; when he catches sight of his enemy sprawled in the dust Aang drags water from the ground and sends a barrage of ice needles toward him.

Zuko flips to his feet and leaps out of the way; when a lone needle breaks through the skin on his thigh, blood blossoms on his pant leg and he grunts in pain.

_50 seconds/100 murders_

_The Bill of Rights_

_Is a Bill of Sale_

"Aang!" Zuko yells, frustrated. "Snap out of it!" He clutches the ice needle and feels the cold bite into his hand. Wrenching it from where it is embedded in his muscle, he turns to face the boy who was once his student and sees that he is no longer there; his eyes glow and Zuko realises that his body has been possessed by his Avatar Spirit. Coming to terms with the fact that his friend really does want to kill him, he feels his eyes tear.

"Aang…Aang, _please_…"

When Aang speaks his voice has become those of a thousand ghosts. "You lied to me…you lied…"

_What will you do when _

_The war is over?_

_What will you do when_

_You system fails?_

"I didn't know!" Zuko shouts, wiping a tear from his scarred face with a closed fist. The skin on his knuckles is torn and bloodied. "I swear, Aang, I didn't!"

"She's mine," the Avatar claims, it's lip curling. "You tried to take her."

"She's not yours!" Zuko protests angrily. "She's not mine, either! We don't…we can't _own_ her!"

"She's MINE!" the spirit roars and Zuko is flattened against the ground by an icy blast of air. The grass around him is suddenly alight and the flames eat away at the ground between Zuko and death.

_We have made the present_

_Obsolete_

_What do you want?_

_What do you need?_

_We'll find a way_

_When all hope is gone_

Zuko watches the flames creep closer, sweat rolling down his face; his thigh has begun to throb and tighten and blood runs in a steady flow from the deep wound.

"Let her choose," he pleads. "Let's stop this and go to her and see what she says. You know she'd never hurt you."

The light in the Spirit's eyes dims. "Katara…"

"She loves you too, Aang. She'd never hurt you." His voice cracks. "You know that."

But the Avatar's eyes glare that sickly blue once again. "She doesn't love me the way she loves you."

"But isn't it enough?" Zuko cries, sobbing. "Isn't it?"

_We have seen the fall of_

_The Elite_

_Bury your life_

_Take you disease_

_We'll end the world_

_When all hope is gone_

"No!" it roars and the wind picks up around them; for a moment the flames glow blue. "That's not enough! If I can't have her then neither can you!"

"I won't touch her, then," Zuko reasons, his voice panicky. The flames are only meters away. "I promise you. Stop this and I swear I won't ever lay a hand on her."

The Spirit appears to be considering his offer. "Never?"

"I swear it to you!" Zuko repeats. "You mean so much to me…to lose you as a friend…it'd be too much…" His throat closes over. Ursa, Iroh and now Aang? "It's not fair…"

"No, it's not," the Spirit snarls. "She loves you. She won't let you get away from her. Even if you resist, she'll pursue. You'll cave."

"I won't!" Zuko screams.

"You will," the Avatar says firmly. "And that is why you must die."

_The Wretched are the wounded_

_The Hungry starve to death_

_In a place where no one goes_

_The air itself is a final breath_

Desperate, Zuko makes one more attempt. Feeling low and dirty, he tells Aang, "She'd hate you for this. You know she hates it when you lose control. She'll know…why you did it. She'll never look at you the same way…can you stand that?"

The Avatar's eyes glow brighter. "She'll understand."

"Not this. This is too much! Aang, think about it!" Zuko yells over the roar of the fire. The memory of his last Agni Kai on the palace grounds comes to mind and he trembles at the memory of the scent of burning flesh and how his eyeball had felt like it was melting in its socket and running out from beneath his eyelid…

"I'll tell her that you tried to kill me first," the Spirit informs Zuko, but its voice is unsure. "She's always pinned you for a traitor."

Zuko feels a sob welling in his throat. "Oh, God, you're going to kill me, I'm going to die…"

_So discontinue the_

_Antiseptic Care Charade_

_As a cry of justice comes_

_A malignant fire fades_

…How his skin had burned away to leave the blood vessels underneath unprotected and the heat had burst them and his blood had boiled and run down his face like hot rain and he'd screamed and the crowd had cheered and his mother had screamed Uncle screamed the pain the _pain_-

"Not the fire!" he shrieks. "Not the fire, please! Aang, don't burn me NOT THE FIRE!"

_I am the reason you future suffers_

_I am the hatred you won't embrace_

_I am the Worm of pure gestation_

_I am the remedy - spit in my face!_

"_Zuko!"_

He hears her voice and he thinks it's his mother screaming, but when he raises his head he sees Katara behind the flames (they're so close and he feels his skin blister), her wild umber hair flying over her grief-stricken, panicked face. He tries to call out to her but his throat is too dry.

"Aang! Stop!" Her tone is high and hysterical. "Not Zuko!"

At the sound of her voice, the Avatar drops to the ground and the glow begins to wash from its possessed eyes; then it's only Aang and he sways with exhaustion. His eyes are wide and terrified when he sees Zuko, moments away from being roasted alive.

_All your laws and rules are outdated_

_All your subjects are killing the kings_

_I could rattle off another millions reasons why_

_But does it matter when the only thing we love will die?_

"Aang!" Katara shouts over the fire's roar and the clap of nearing thunder. "What did you _do_?"

Aang's mouth is slack and he tries to shape it around words of explanation, but he can't seem to understand for himself why he has murdered his own friend. A frown creases his brow. "I love you…" he whispers. "But so does Zuko."

Katara's not listening. Her arms strain with the effort as she drags water from the barren earth to douse the raging flames; the grass beneath their feet is only ash and the ground choked and parched. In the centre of it all Zuko is crouched, his skin glaring red as though he's spent too long in the sun and his hands balled in his hair which is matted with sweat. He's screaming something and Aang watches as Katara falls beside him, crying, holding him.

He realises what he has tried to do.

_We have made the present_

_Obsolete_

_What do you want?_

Her hands are blessedly cool on his skin when she pulls him into her, kissing his face and his hair and his mouth. He feels himself begin to cry, _really_ cry, and he holds her tightly against him.

"Zuko," she breathes tearfully and he raises his head so he can kiss her mouth, holding her waist in his charred and blistered hands. "Oh, Yue, you're alive…"

_What do you need?_

_We'll find a way_

_When all hope is gone_

As Aang watches them hold one another he feels no fury, only sheer weariness.

"Katara…" he whispers and the name does not bring that familiar, embarrassing heat to his cheeks. When Zuko kisses her mouth he does not feel raging jealousy. He only sees the friend that he nearly burned alive.

His eyes go to the ashen ground and his lip trembles. "Oh God…Zuko…"

He leaves them in one another's arms.

_We have seen the fall of_

_The Elite_

_Bury your life_

_Take you disease_

_We'll end the world_

_When all hope is gone_


End file.
